When You Believe
by Angeliz
Summary: It all seems normal enough when the gang tries out for the play The Prince of Egypt, even if the new director is slightly insane. Though when magic starts flying around, nobody can really be sure what she's up to. On hiatus.
1. Casting

Chapter One: Casting

Yugi shifted slightly in his cushioned red chair, glancing to his left with wide violet eyes. His yami sat beside him with a bored expression playing across his face, staring blankly at the spotlighted stage a few rows in front of them. Across the aisle Ryou and Bakura were slumped in their seats with a similar air of boredom radiating from their features. In fact, as Yugi looked around the room, he could see that almost everyone had that same tired-of-waiting dullness in their eyes. He turned his attention once more to the empty stage, blinking and wondering how long it would take for Kaiba or Bakura to explode.

"Could we hurry up? Some of us have better things to do than wait for the results of a stupid audition!" Kaiba growled. Mokuba poked his big brother in the arm to silence him as the sound of sneakered steps rang out across the stage. A girl emerged from behind the curtain and narrowed her brown eyes from behind wire-framed glasses.

"Terribly sorry for the inconvenience, but you're the one who tried out, so shut it or beat it," she barked, a slightly stressed edge to her voice. Kaiba glared but didn't reply, leaning stiffly against the back of his chair. The girl watched him for a moment before pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose and glancing down at her battered clipboard.

"Okay, people, here's the deal. My name Kanta and I'm in charge of this production. As you know, we're going to be performing a stage rendition of the animated feature The Prince of Egypt, an adaptation of the Moses story."

"You're wasting our time; we already know this," came a cold, arrogant voice. Everyone rolled their eyes at Kaiba's usual antics, grinning simultaneously when Bakura tossed a random object at his head. 

"Thank you. Now, if someone wouldn't mind keeping his trap shut, we can get to the casting results." She cleared her throat and brushed a strand of brown hair behind her ear, flipping pages on her clipboard. "Due to the confusing nature of all of your names, I'm not even going to try to mess with your full names. You know who you are. Now. We're going to start with the leads. The role of Moses goes to Yugi, and Rameses to Yami."

Bakura smirked. "The pharaoh gets to play pharaoh. How original."

Kanta glared in his direction and continued reading. "Kaiba will have the role of Seti, Ishizu as his queen. Mokuba is the son of Rameses. Miho gets the very minor role of wife of Rameses."

Yami glanced at Miho and blinked. She blinked right back.

"The part of Aaron goes to Ryou, Miriam to Serenity, and Yocheved to Mai."

Joey looked distinctly ruffled. He had wanted to be Aaron, especially now that Serenity was Miriam. Of course, if Mai was going to play their mother, it might have been a little weird.

"To Anzu, the role of Tzipporah and to Joey...you get to be Jethro, high priest of Midian." Kanta smirked slightly to Joey's puzzlement. "You'll see. Continuing, Rebecca, you are going to play the part of little Miriam at the beginning, with Rex as little Aaron. I haven't decided if I'm going to trust Johji to be anyone yet, so I'll come back to that."

Anzu glanced at the little pervert. _Trust him? I think not..._ Tristan tossed a triumphant grin towards the rather put-out looking child.

"Ah, yes, Tristan...you get to be the random slave driver that dies at the hands of Moses."

The grin disappeared. _Random?_

"Marik and Duke, you will fill the roles of Hotep and Huy, psycho-priests. I suggest you practice crying out the words, 'by the power of Ra!' several times before rehearsal starts because you have to say it a hell of a lot." Kanta flipped her clipboard back to the first page, looking up at them. "I've decided that I'm going to risk letting Johji play baby Moses, but if he tries anything…oh, I don't know…I suppose Marik has my permission to beat him over the head with that stick. Understood, young pervert?"

Johji nodded, glancing nervously a few seats over to where Marik was sitting. Marik grinned at him.

"Now, if I didn't call your name you will be filling random background roles. Oh, except Bakura, sorry. Bakura will be God."

Everyone stared at Kanta, mouths slightly agape. Bakura himself widened his dark eyes. "Did you just say 'Bakura will be God?' Because I could have sworn that's what you just said."

Kanta leveled her gaze with his. "That's what I just said."

Bakura smirked evilly as Yami smacked his forehead with his hand. Ryou shook his head very slightly with an amused laugh.

Kanta jumped off the stage, eyes glued to her clipboard. "First rehearsal is tomorrow morning at 8:30 sharp. Be here, be here on time, or die. And I'm serious about that. My last play was a production of Wicked by the Teen Titans and it was a disaster. Robin drove me off the deep end entirely from the start and Cyborg was never on time for anything. Including opening night. You pull any of that crap on my fragile psyche and I will decapitate you. Understood? Good. Dismissed!"


	2. Practice

Chapter Two: Practice

"For the love of god, Mai, put some emotion into this! You're giving your newborn son over to the Nile in order to save his life from the pharaoh's wrath! Not casually dropping a cereal box in a shopping basket!"

Kanta was fuming. This was showing every sign of becoming another Teen Titans fiasco. She grasped her clipboard tightly, hardly aware that it was biting into her hand to the point of drawing blood, silently counting to ten. It wasn't working.

"Excuse me."

"Yaaaah!" The bespectacled girl jumped a foot into the air as a soft touch met her shoulder. Recovering quickly, she spun around and came face to face...or rather, face to hair...with Yugi. Her startled expression melted quickly into one of irritation as she gave her watch a heated glare. "You're late. You're both late. Why are you both late? If the two main characters do not arrive on time I will simply jump into oncoming traffic right now because I am not going to deal with another disaster."

Yugi looked up at her with wide eyes. "Well, uh, I hope you don't do that. You see, we're only late because Bakura broke into our house this morning and stole all of our left shoes, which was a small problem—"

"Bakura!"

"What?" The thief looked up and found himself under the scrutiny of an enraged and glaring Kanta. He sighed in irritation. "What now?"

"Did you break into the home of the stars of my play, stealing their left shoes and thus making them tardy to this morning's practice?"

He smirked. "Yes."

"Don't do it again." The girl whirled, a quick one-eighty turn that left Bakura staring at the back of her head and placed Yami and Yugi in the uncomfortable position of being targets for her death glare. "And you two…from now on, I don't care if Bakura has stolen your pants, your shirts, and every pair of boxer shorts you own, you will get your asses here on time or I will kill you. And that is not an exaggeration!" She swiveled once more, executing a ninety-degree turn to the stage. "Mai! Emotion, dammit, emotion! Let's try that scene again!"

Mai groaned loudly. "We've done this scene fifty thousand times already! When's a girl get a break around here?" Rebecca and Rex nodded in agreement, a motion that was followed by a long period of silence in which nobody on or offstage moved an inch. Finally, after an eternity, Kanta blinked and conceded. "One more time, then we move on to the burning bush scene."

.oOo.

_"Yal-di ha-tov veh ha-rach, al ti-ra veh al tif-chad, my son, I have nothing I can give, but this chance that you may live, I pray we'll meet again, if he will deliver us…" Mai wrapped a blanket around the little child in her arms as she sang, moving towards the door with her older son and daughter. Rex carried a basket in his arms as they rushed through the streets of their village, desperately slipping through the slaughter surrounding them. Mai watched everything despite the overwhelming urge to close her eyes and make it all disappear. Her observance paid off; as she sighted a band of passing soldiers her hand shot out and pulled Rex back before they noticed his presence. A moment passed before the three returned to their dash toward the Nile._

_Reaching the banks, they slowed, emotion catching up to Mai as her children looked on. Fighting tears, she somehow found her voice once more. "Hush now, my baby, be still love, don't cry. Sleep as you're rocked by the stream. Sleep and remember my last lullaby, so I'll be with you as you dream…" With a last, longing look at her infant son, the woman placed the lid tightly over him and waded into the river. "River, oh river, flow gently for me. Such precious cargo you bear… Do you know somewhere he can be free? River, deliver him there…" Mai felt herself lose the battle with tears as they broke free of her shining eyes and trickled softly down her face beneath the Egyptian sun. As her mother wept, Rebecca made her way down the banks, silently following the basket's course._

.oOo.

"That's a wrap on the basket scene. Good work everyone, moving on." Kanta's sharp words jerked Mai, Rex, Rebecca, and even Johji out of their stupor. Despite the fact that they were still reading off their scripts, for a moment…it had almost seemed…real…

"Yugi! Bakura! Your scene is up! Let's go, people!" Shaking their heads, the four from the previous scene cleared the stage to make way for Yugi and an unlikely God.

"Okay, Bakura, since this is only the first practice, we obviously don't have the burning bush. Therefore, you will stand in for the bush." Bakura raised an eyebrow at the girl standing before him, taking in her deceptively calm demeanor. "You want me to 'stand in' for a bush?" His skeptical tone made it clear that, while he was perfectly happy to play God, the thief had no desire to become a piece of shrubbery.

Kanta's grip on her clipboard tightened once more. "You will simply stand where the bush would normally be and read your lines. If you refuse to go along with the way I run my practice, I will personally removeany chance you have of producing children in the future. Do I make myself clear?" Somewhere offstage, Ryou snorted slightly in a failed attempt to hide his laughter. Bakura nodded in mock-respect, grumbling threats to himself as Kanta grinned tightly. "Great. Now then, if 'God' here has no further problems, could we start the scene?"

Bakura sighed. "Moses, Moses, Moses."

"With feeling, Bakura! You're the god of your people, not Jan Brady! Try a mysterious whisper instead of the pout."

The white hair spiked out slightly as he gritted his teeth. "Moses. Moses. Mosessss."

"You're not a snake, either!"

"MOSES, MOSES, I'M-GOING-TO-SEND-YOU-ALL-TO-THE-SHADOWS-MOSES!"

"God doesn't threaten to send people to the shadows. I've had it with you for now; Yugi, just read your line."

Yugi gulped and fidgeted a little, glancing down at the highlighted line on the script in his hands. "Here I am," he whispered, sounding appropriately fearful and cautious due to the threat of an already-pissed Kanta. She said nothing, merely smiled the tiniest of smiles at him and waved at Bakura to continue.

"Take the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground," he commanded softly with a trivial glare, sounding a little less like an ancient evil and a little more like a holy being. But only a little. Sharp brown eyes narrowed at him over the clipboard, but nothing was said and the scene continued uninterrupted. Yugi glanced at his line, then inquired frightfully, "Who are you?"

"I am a thief and a stealer of souls."

"Dammit, Bakura!"

Kanta lost all patience and hurled her clipboard at him; he dodged skillfully and smirked, "Force of habit."

She intensified her glare, magnifying it through her lenses like a ray of summer sun. "I don't care if your habits include drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and an unusual fetish for underwater sword fighting, if they interfere with my play I will follow through on that threat! Don't push me! And Yugi!"

Yami tensed on behalf of his hikari as the boy shrank back from her vicious snarl, shaking. "Y-yes?…"

"You're good. I like you." He sighed in relief as she turned away from him to retrieve her clipboard from the edge of the stage. "Continue scene!"

Everyone executed a collective jump at the shouted demand, breathing deeply before returning to whispered line readings and scattered backstage organization. Yugi repeated his previous line, hoping for Bakura's sake that he would respond correctly. "Who are you?"

"I am…that I am."

Kanta grinned to herself with a silent sigh. "Now we're getting somewhere…"

Author Note: Well, that's chapter two! Thanks much for the reviews. I love reviews. - I know the story starts out rather slowly, but it gets more developed a few chapters on. Anyway, hope you liked it; keep reading!


	3. Suspicion

Chapter 3: Suspicion

---

"He can't be God. You've been rehearsing this scene for over an hour, and he's still screwing up!"

"Thank you, Tristan, I know."

"I mean, I think my acting is a little more worthy than the role of a 'random' slave driver who's only on the stage for ten seconds, and I know it's better than his at any rate."

"Thank you, Tristan, I know."

"So it makes sense to switch our roles, right? It's a win-win situation. You don't have to deal with him as much, and I get the part I rightfully deserve! If I were you, I'd have already recognized my mistake and corrected it!"

Kanta suddenly stopped ignoring the pointy-haired teen and brought her fiery brown eyes up to meet his somewhat dull stare. Her ballpoint pen came to an abrupt halt on the ever-present clipboard as he fidgeted slightly under her scrutinizing glare, fighting off the overwhelming urge to run away screaming. The girl advanced slowly on him with a falsely gentle smile playing across her face; despite her peaceful appearance, the air was charged with sparks of irritation, all of which were building into a high-voltage bolt aimed directly at Tristan.

Inches away from his face, she tilted her head innocently. "Come again?"

He stumbled backwards a few steps and cleared his throat. "I…was just saying…about the, uh, casting?"

"What about the casting, exactly?"

"Uh, that is to say, I think…you're a genius and all the casting is pure gold. We're lucky to have such a talented person as yourself running this show!"

The smile on her face manipulated itself quickly into an amused smirk as Kanta stepped away from the trembling boy. "Thank you, Tristan, I know." Without another word, she turned her back on him, clicked her pen and continued her scribbling, seemingly unaware as he passed out in a dead faint.

.oOo.

_Rebecca peered through the bright green vegetation on the banks of the Nile, her wide eyes trained on the basket that carried her brother. It picked up speed slightly with the current, an assortment of fish flitting around it as she quickened her pace to keep up. With a sinking feeling, the young girl caught sight of a dark shadow rising through the waters, sending fish scattering as its head broke the surface, sharp teeth snapping. The basket rose sharply on a wave created by the disturbance, moving jaggedly around obstacles of the animal kingdom before coming into the grips of those of humanity._

_Rebecca gasped, drawing back as the basket rose above the river, briefly ensnared in a fisherman's net before toppling back into the Nile. Any relief she felt at the sight of this escape was short-lived, however, as the basket tumbled over the waves and directly between two boats. Oars churned the water around her brother as his reed basket maneuvered around them, narrowly avoiding each one before being pushed out of harm's way by another boat cutting through the river, floating on a swell past fluttering birds into a watery courtyard near the palace. _

_Creeping toward the courtyard herself, Rebecca pulled at the edge of a silky white curtain with a sharp intake of breath as she realized that the basket was floating toward the queen of Egypt herself. An elegant woman with shining black hair, Ishizu had a dignified manner befitting her status. She held the young prince balanced on her hip as she plucked a lily from the water where she stood, holding it out to her son to play with, oblivious to Rebecca's gaze. With a startled jerk, however, the queen noticed the basket as it softly bumped against her. _

_Setting her child on the steps leading down to the water, Ishizu curiously pulled the lid from the basket, smiling in surprised delight at the baby that lie cooing within. From her hiding place, Rebecca gave a relieved sigh at the maternal way the queen cuddled the boy. Her voice rose quietly in a song that echoed her mother's tune, a final word to the tiny baby her family could no longer call their own. "Brother, you're safe now, and safe may you stay, for I have a prayer just for you. Grow baby brother, come back some day, come and deliver us too…" With one last glance at the new prince, Rebecca let the curtain slip from her grasp as she turned to go home. _

_Ishizu already loved this mysterious child as her own, rocking him rhythmically in the same way she rocked little Yami. Looking up from her infant son, she noticed the doubtful expressions on the faces of her two servant girls and swore them to silence with a single look. Yami, unaccustomed to sharing his mother's attention, tugged at the folds of her pure white dress, calling out, "Mommy," in a quietly insistent sort of way. The queen looked down at her firstborn with a smile that was clearly meant as reassurance of her love for the boy as well as the baby. "Come, Yami," she murmured, tapping the infant in her arms on the nose as she spoke, "We will show Pharaoh your new baby brother…Yugi." Servants following silently, the royal mother and sons ascended the stairway to the palace._

.oOo.

"That was great, everyone, take a break! And Kaiba, I'd like to talk to you later about using your holographics to project the scenery for some of this stuff. I thought it would work out well to have a hologram for the young prince, because frankly, we just don't have enough kids for this project and it's only a minor role…"

Yami shook his head quietly, arms crossed and frowning in thought as he peered out from a shadowy corner near the stage. There was something slightly odd about this play that they were participating in. He couldn't quite figure out what it was, but there was a misting of magic over the theater as the participants rehearsed certain scenes. The girl, Kanta, seemed to notice the near trance-like state that her actors entered during these scenes, but did not display any curiosity in regards to why. Perhaps he only imagined her reaction as something peculiar, but whether the girl was aware of it or not, the fact remained that some sort of magic was taking part in their efforts. Something odd, indeed…

"Hey, Pharaoh."

Yami started, snapping out of his ponderings as Marik leaned against the wall next to him, eyes glued to the young woman who sat on the opposite end of the stage, legs dangling over the edge while she wrote on her clipboard. "She's somewhat unstable, don't you think? Did you see what she did to Tristan?"

The spirit of the puzzle felt a flicker of interest at the mention of the previous incident. "I know that Yugi and Joey helped him up after she threatened him to the point of unconsciousness, but I wasn't near enough to take notice of any specific events."

"Pharaoh, does everything have to be worded so properly with you? 'I saw him faint, I saw people help him, I didn't catch the reason.' That would have been more than enough of you talking." Bakura joined the conversation with an exasperated expression, sitting cross-legged on a corner of the stage nearby. "And that girl is definitely insane. Or perhaps mad."

Marik rolled his eyes. "Don't go into the speech about the difference between madness and insanity again, please. We've heard it already." Yami nodded at Marik's words, then questioned, "What did Tristan do to anger her so?"

"He suggested that she made a mistake in the casting process. It would appear that our little dictator is very touchy about her casting." The thief smirked at the thought of the foolish boy passed out like a frightened child due to a few simple words from some girl. Truly, it was somewhat impressive, though he would be more eager to see the trick performed on the pharaoh. Marik shrugged slightly, watching several cast members edging around her in a wide arc so as not to inflict her wrath upon themselves. "Her name suits her well. She has a fighting spirit."

"Kanta?" Yami asked, puzzlement in his eyes. Marik shook his head, pushing himself up from his slouch against the wall and shoving his hands into his pockets. "Mukantagara. It's Egyptian. She had it written on some documents in that clipboard of hers. It means something along the lines of 'born during war.'"

"Egyptian, is it? That's rather interesting…" Yami mused over this bit of information, only dimly aware of Marik trying to talk Bakura out of stealing the all-important clipboard, an act that was sure to bring certain death. The origins of the girl's name were somewhere between incredible coincidence and suspicious circumstance. The ancient would have to be more observant in judging her reactions to the magical interference in their production. She either knew something they didn't, or was just an ordinary child with a wild temper. Time would tell, but until then, he would be more watchful of her.

He remained in this state of deep thought for a lengthy amount of time, coming to only when Kanta herself snapped her fingers in his face. "Hey, Yams, you seen Yugi anywhere? He's got a scene to rehearse."

'_Yams?' _he wondered vaguely, shaking himself from his lingering thoughts and focusing on reality. "I know that Yugi went with Joey to help Tristan, but I believe that he's on his way back here now. Actually, he should be coming through the door in a matter of—"

"Sorry we took so long. Joey had to stick Tristan's head in the toilet before he'd wake up." Yugi entered the room with an amused smile on his angelic face, followed by a grouchily dripping Tristan and a snickering Joey. Kanta turned from Yami the instant she heard his look-alike's voice, pulling her glasses off as she evaluated their appearances. "Don't you dare sit on the chairs, Sharkhead. If you get that damned toilet water on these seats I will kill you myself and save Moses the trouble. Yugi, I need you for the scene with Miriam, Aaron, and Moses by the well. Get moving, people, let's go!"

Yami watched as his friends scattered at her words, getting back to various line-readings and technical issues. "Not only do I think she's somewhat unstable, Marik," he murmured in answer to the departed boy's question, "But I believe she may truly have escaped from an institution somewhere…and her nicknames are questionable." The pharaoh shook his head in vexation at the girl's general personality as he moved toward Joey and the newly declared "Sharkhead."

Kanta sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "Okay, Yugi, I've seen you act and you're pretty good, but try to speak up some. Serenity, your audition was great, and I have complete confidence in your ability to play this character. Ryou…just don't follow Bakura's example, I'm begging you." Ryou blushed slightly and muttered something about knowing that already. Replacing her glasses, she signaled for the scene to start, chewing on the end of her pen as they spoke.

"Didn't I tell you, Aaron? Didn't I tell you? I knew he'd return to us when he was ready!" Serenity cried joyfully, as Ryou eyed Yugi as one might eye a venomous snake. "Miriam, do you want us flogged?" he muttered from the corner of his mouth, noticing Kanta's audible sigh of relief that he was taking the play seriously. Serenity apparently took no notice of the question, continuing, "I knew you cared about our freedom."

"Freedom?" Yugi asked her dubiously, raising his eyebrow, "Why would I care about that?" He glanced offstage with a question in his eyes; Kanta waved at him to show that his volume was okay, motioning the scene to continue.

Serenity seemed to falter slightly, pausing before stating quietly, "Well…because…you're our brother."

Yugi arranged his expression into one of disbelief, and with an unsure chuckle in his words, inquired, "What?"

Offstage, Yami watched his partner with a quiet pride in his eyes. He was very talented in playing this part, and seemed to be completely immersed in the roll despite the script in his hands. Serenity and Ryou were quite into their characters, as well; it seemed the shyest of the group shone brightest onstage.

"Oh, my good prince," Ryou was saying nervously to Yugi, "She's exhausted from the day's work…not that it was too much, we quite enjoyed it…but she is _confused_," with this word he gave Serenity a pointed look, which she matched with a stubborn one, "And knows not to whom she speaks." Serenity pulled away from the pale boy, growing irritated.

"I _know_ to whom I _speak, Aaron._" She turned to Yugi accusingly. "I know who you are, and you are _not_ a prince of Egypt!"

An unlikely look took possession of little Yugi's face, giving off a sort of righteous fury. "What did you say?" he demanded, seeming for all the world as if he'd like nothing more than to smack her across the face. Joey fidgeted slightly from his position in the audience, trying to convince himself that Yugi would never hurt anyone, especially not his younger sister. Yami placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, whispering, "They certainly make you believe it despite their limited rehearsals, don't they?" Joey chuckled faintly in agreement, eyes never leaving the scene on the stage.

"Our mother sent you adrift in a basket to save your life!" Serenity cried, struggling against Ryou's hold on her, shouting her heart out into the dusty air.

"Save my life?" demanded Yugi, "From who?"

Serenity responded instantly, practically spitting the words in her anger. "Ask the man that you call father!" Yugi was struck silent, a deadly hatred swirling in his eyes.

"How dare you…"

"Dammit, Bakura!"

The scene shattered around them as everyone turned to stare at Kanta, who was locked in what might have been a life-or-death battle with Bakura over the clipboard. He held tightly to the majority of the glossy wood, leaving Kanta with the sharp-edged metal as her only handhold. Despite the bright crimson blood that streamed from her fingers, the girl was doggedly fighting for the thing as if it were a holy relic while the thief attempted to shake her off. "What is the matter with you! You ruined the scene! They were in the zone, you numbskull! Once I get this thing back I'm going to use it to cut off your—"

"Tomb robber!" Yami's deep, calm voice broke into her threat before she could complete the thought, which was probably for the best considering that Mokuba was standing no more than five feet away. "That worn out, beaten clipboard cannot be of any importance to you. Give it back to the child."

"I'll show you 'child!'" Kanta shouted indignantly, temper flaring, as Bakura smirked and relinquished his hold.

"This is by no means finished, young one," he stated with amusement, stalking off across the room. Kanta's glare followed him for a few moments before she returned her attention to the individuals onstage. With a sigh, she calmed herself and addressed the three.

"You are all awesome at this, and will probably carry the play, to be honest. But we're going to end the scene there for now because, believe it or not, my cold and cruel body bleeds just like anyone else's and I need to hunt down some band-aids. Five minute break!" The company jumped collectively at her shouted order, Yami turning toward Marik with a tired grin.

"Unstable doesn't even _begin_ to cover it…"

.oOo.

_Many years had passed since the day Ishizu had found little Yugi cuddled in a basket on the Nile's currents. Yami and his brother were no longer children, but had grown into strong and adventurous young princes. Princes who, in their spare time, enjoyed the occasional chariot race…_

"_Faster, you beasts, you run like mules!" Yami cried out in a spirited voice, urging his horses onward. His brother's chariot clattered up beside him as he glanced at the hieroglyphic likeness of a warrior painted on a wall beside their path. Yugi, noticing the intrigued look, called out, "Hey, Yami! How'd you like your face carved on a wall?"_

"_Someday, yes!" came the reply over the sound of pounding hooves on the ground. With a smirk in his voice, Yugi shouted back, "How about now?" _

_Yami barely had time to register his brother's words before Yugi jerked the reins, slamming into the side of the adjacent chariot and sending it into the wall they had spoken of. As the chariot reared up on one wheel, sparks flickered into the air accompanied by an ominous scraping sound. Yami struggled to get control of the thing, angling his horses to pull him away from the wall. With a start, the prince felt a jolt of the wheel renewing contact with the ground. Angrily, he shot a glare at the second born son of Pharaoh. "You almost killed me!"_

"_Oh, come on! Where's your sense of fun?" Yugi returned with a carefree tone that suggested he considered his actions an elaborate yet painless jest. Yami felt his irritation fade as it always did when his brother got that look in his eyes. Grinning, he took him up on the unspoken challenge, calling good-naturedly, "Oh, it's fun you want?"_

_Quite suddenly, Yugi found himself forced to pull back on the reins, slowing the horses to a near stop as his brother cut in front of him, leaping a wall and skidding over the desert sand on the other side. Yami had to fight in order to keep control of the chariot on the unstable surface, sliding to a stop a few moments later. He took a deep breath, scanning the surrounding area for his brother, inquiring, "Yugi?" An answering whoop met his ears as the future pharaoh ducked his head, feeling the breeze created by his brother leaping over him, chariot and all. The race was on again, heading out of the desert outskirts and into the city streets at a breakneck speed. Citizens scattered, abandoning games and diving through doorways in an effort not to be trampled. Yugi was in the lead on the narrow road, executing a sharp turn to the right that his brother was unable to follow. Opting instead to turn at the following street, the two lost sight of each other for a few moments until Yami gained a lead on Yugi, racing along an elevated roadway. _

_Taking advantage of his position, Yami called downward, "Come on, Yugi, admit it! You've always looked up to me!" before he raced ahead. With a chuckle and a shake of his head, the younger boy shouted a reply to his brother's back: "Yes, but it's not much of a view!" His laughter broke off as something above him splintered and the firstborn dropped from above, landing in front of him. _

"_Second born, second place!"_

"_Not for long!"_

_The siblings raced from the residential area of the city, moving rapidly toward a nearly completed statue of their father, the king of Egypt. Unmoved by the rickety appearance of the wooden ramps surrounding the stone likeness, the royal sons clattered out over them without a thought to the ominous creaks and groans of the platforms. Killing some speed, Yugi made a swift turn to avoid crashing to the ground below, knocking a painter off balance and bestowing his father with a very undignified smiley face on his great stone head. With a horrible cracking sound, the large nose of the Pharaoh fell from his face, tumbling over the wooden walkways, snapping it efficiently to pieces. Yami and Yugi, unable to reach the ground in time, urged their horses into a leap that landed them out of harm's way in the nick of time. _

_Chuckling weakly, the two came to a stop at the edge of a great sand pile held up by a wall of reeds. The laughter was short lived, however, as wall collapsed into nothingness and sand streamed downward in a waterfall motion. _

_Far below and somewhere down the street, Marik and Duke led a procession of temple attendants through the city, chanting. A sound of shifting sand caught Marik's ear and he turned, wide-eyed at the sight of what was rushing toward them. Unable to do much else due to shock, he tapped Duke on the shoulder and indicated what he was staring at. With a distinct look of, 'you've got to be kidding me,' on their faces, the priests came to their senses and ran like madmen, pushing past their fellow worshippers in an all-out panic. _

_Riding the top of the sand wave like professionals, Yami and Yugi shouted excitedly, rocking and tossing their chariots about, unaware of the scattering priests in their wake. As the speed of the sand fizzled out, the brothers found themselves back on solid earth, galloping steadily and swiftly toward their palace home. With an offhanded air, Yami questioned his fellow prince; "You don't think we'll get in trouble for this, do you?"_

"_No," Yugi replied with laughter in his voice, "Not a chance…"_

.oOo.

"Nice work, people, now get the hell out of here! Go home, do stuff, and get your asses to practice on time tomorrow! Dismissed!" Kanta watched as most of her cast stampeded toward the door, either eager to get home or to get away from her. She gave a wry smile, glad at the effort they put in, early as they were into practices. Of course, she wasn't very likely to tell them that…

"Later, Dictator." Bakura tossed a smirk at the bespectacled girl in a menacing manner, obviously still amused by the earlier struggle for her clipboard. Calmly smiling in return, Kanta offered him a rather rude hand gesture before waving cheerfully to Ryou, who grinned apologetically. The thief had a mischievous air about him, as if plotting something illegal or at least immoral.

"You keep an eye on that idiot, Ryou! He's up to something!" she called at their retreating forms, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose tiredly, perfectly aware that Yami still stood behind her. "And what, may I ask, makes you stay after practice has finished, Yams?" she inquired without actually looking at him.

The addressed blinked his intense eyes, bringing them up to look at the girl. "I was thinking."

Kanta raised an eyebrow. "Thinking."

"About the last scene we practiced."

"Yes, like I said, it was very well done. Very much in character. But if you don't mind, I have to get home, and so do you. Yugi is waiting for you, Pharaoh." She nodded to him, moving up the aisle at a quick pace, clipboard in hand and dark eyes darting over the paper. Yami followed her up the walkway with a relatively slower step, wondering if she had called him that because of the part he played or because she knew something. He sighed to himself, making his way to the exit.

_'Time will tell…'_

_---_

Author note: Thanks for all the reviews, people! Hm...what to say. Well, just to clear some stuff up, there are two types of scene rehearsals going on in this story. The italics form indicates the trancelike state that the actors go into, completely immersed in the characters and plot. Non-italics is just a normal script-reading, with outside elements still in play. Just to make that clear. Anyway, keep reading! Bye!


	4. Chaos and Confrontation

Chapter 4: Chaos and Confrontation

---

"Good morning, everyone." Kanta blew through the door, striding down the aisle so rapidly as to make her chocolate-brown locks billow out behind her, glancing distractedly at her cast as she walked. "Good to see you all here on time…all but Yams and Yugi…well, they still have seven minutes, I suppose; we're all a bit early. Bakura! Stop smirking; you look like you've done something criminal. What did you do? Ryou, what did he do?"

In response to this query, Anzu raised a quivering finger to point toward the theater entrance, gripping a red-cushioned chair for support. Kanta swiveled in the direction she indicated, raising an eyebrow at the sight that met her eyes as the company gasped collectively, stifling giggles. Bakura's smirk grew ever more sinister, betraying his complete responsibility for the situation at hand.

"Okay…care to explain this one, boys?" Despite the glare she tossed over her shoulder at the guilty party, Kanta was straining to keep the chuckle out of her voice, and Bakura knew it. "So the Dictator has a sense of humor after all," he pondered loudly, causing the girl to chuck a shoe at him. "Shut it, you obnoxious pile of pond scum, I wasn't talking to you. I was asking Yams and Moses…though I don't doubt you know the cause of this…unusual situation."

Yugi blushed deeply, rather hiding behind the pharaoh as best he could manage. Yami himself was struggling to look dignified despite the fact that he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts in the presence of friends, rivals, and a near stranger of the female variety. "You said, and I quote, 'From now on, I don't care if Bakura has stolen your pants, your shirts, and every pair of boxer shorts you own, you will get your asses here on time or I will kill you.' So we thought it best to get our asses here on time and avoid what I'm certain would have been a horribly painful death." His effort at a casual tone of voice was thwarted almost completely by a pinkish tinge creeping upon his face, clashing marvelously with the tangerine-colored undergarments he was clad in. Anzu swayed dangerously, eyes glued to the ferociously underdressed teens, Yugi fidgeting slightly under her scrutiny. Kanta rolled her eyes.

"Okay, enough gawking, thank you. I'm sure you all have work to do. You two! We have costumes backstage, get 'em on, and be quick about it. Bakura, step into my office, we're gonna have a chat about this death wish you seem to be harboring…"

"_Why do the gods torment me with such reckless, destructive, blasphemous sons?"_

"_Father, hear what I—"_

"_Be still! Pharaoh speaks!" Kaiba roared, enraged. Had the boys not been his sons, they would have been beaten, imprisoned, or worse. He lowered his voice to a conversational volume, allowing for his fury to be present in his tone. "I seek to build an empire. And your only thought is to amuse yourselves by tearing it down! Have I taught you nothing?" His final question was almost a plea, a desire to know if he had truly failed as a father. Duke broke into the conversation with a bow, brown-nosing obviously, "You mustn't be so hard on yourself, your majesty; you're an excellent teacher."_

"_It's not your fault your sons learned nothing." Marik followed up on his fellow priest's comment, glaring pointedly at Yami and Yugi as they stood before the throne of the Pharaoh. He strode away, leaving the royal family to themselves, Duke close behind. The latter couldn't help but get in one last dig as he elbowed past the princes, intoning, "Well, they learned blasphemy." _

"_True," Marik conceded as they made their exit. A silence descended upon the hall in their absence, Yugi breaking through after a moment. "Father…the fault is mine…I goaded Yami on, and so I am responsible."_

"_Hn. Responsible. And do you know the meaning of that word, Yami?" _

"_I understand, father…"_

"_And do you understand the task for which your birth had destined you?" Kaiba cut off his eldest son, a fervor creeping into his voice, willing the prince to understand what he was telling him. "The ancient traditions? When I pass into the next world then you will be the morning and the evening star!" _

_Yami frowned, put out a bit by this reaction. "One damaged temple does not destroy centuries of tradition—"_

"_But one weak link can break the chain of a mighty dynasty!"_

_Yami pulled back, speechless, as if he had been struck by a snake. The words were weighing on him heavily, and it showed. Kaiba took a breath as if to further berate his firstborn, but any words he wished to say died in his throat as Ishizu placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Her head moved slightly, gesturing toward the stricken boy with a slight swinging motion of her ebony hair. His shoulders slumped with the gravity of his father's disappointment, sad eyes trained on the marble floor. He did not need to hear any more. Heaving a sigh, the king cast a final discouraged look upon his son before turning his back. "You have my leave to go."_

"_Father…"_

_In a swift motion, Ishizu raised a hand, delicate but firm in it's meaning: Enough. The conversation had gone on more than sufficiently. There was nothing more to be said. Something in Yami's eyes hardened like chips of ice, an unspoken so-be-it. He turned on his family, turned on the throne, throwing up his arms in agitation as he stormily departed their company. _

_Late rays of Egyptian sun cast the room in a warm glow, long fingers of the gods brushing across Yugi's face as his eyes followed his brother's exit. With a gentle sigh in his voice, the boy stepped toward his parents. "Father…you know it was really my fault. Must you be so hard on him?"_

_Kaiba broke his regal stance as the younger son approached him, a mild reproach in his voice. "Yugi…you will never have to carry a burden like the crown I will pass to Yami. He must not allow himself to be led astray." Placing a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder, he added with the faintest hint of a chuckle in his voice, "Not even by you, my son."_

_There was a note of finality to the pharaoh's voice, and the conversation could have been left at that point. However, the memory of his brother's pain was fresh in Yugi's mind, urging his voice to give form to his thoughts. "All he cares about is…is your approval. I know he will live up to your expectations. He only needs the opportunity." Confidence laced his words; he would not say what he did not mean, and he meant this for certain. _

_Kaiba perhaps heard this belief, stating in a softly considering manner, "Maybe. Maybe so." With a sigh, he snapped from his vocal ponderings and directed parting words toward his son. "Go now. I shall see you both tonight."_

"Ahem…'hush now, my baby, be still love, don't cry—' Ugh, why do I put myself through this?" Mai drummed her long fingernails against her thigh, humming softly in an attempt to get in tune. "I've long been asking myself the same question," Kaiba intoned from a few feet away, where his digits tapped restlessly at the air-laptop he appeared to possess. Yugi, ever cheerful, beamed up at his two fellow duelists. "Oh, come on, you guys. Aren't you having _some_ fun, at least?"

"Damn it all, Bakura, you no good son of a bitch!" Kanta's exclamation interrupted loudly, streaming from behind the closed doors of the office outside the auditorium, followed by a series of bone-rattling crashes at various intervals. "Why are you out to ruin this fucking play! Why are you even here if you hate it so! There is something wrong with your brain, and if I have to pull said brain from your hard head, I will find out what it is, mark my words!" A few thumps were heard, and by now the entire cast was giving the unseen chaos their complete and rapt attention. "Oho, so you want to play it that way? By all means, then, you snow-haired maniac! Have at you!" The two burst through the center doorway a moment later, moving with a gymnastic grace down the aisle, leaping over chairs, each slashing at the other with identical silver daggers. They dodged and sliced at the air with rapid and accurate motion, neither individual landing a blow, yet not missing by too much, either. Yami grabbed Ryou around the middle and pulled him from the path of the scuffle as it made it's way about the room, crashing into Yugi and landing them in a heap at Kaiba's feet.

Mai's lavender eyes sparkled as she located Yugi's star-haired head in the pile of bodies, a slight smirk on her lips. "Define _fun._"

.oOo.

Across the room, Marik surveyed the spirited girl with pensiveness behind his eyes. He leaned his head against his sister's shoulder, knowing fully that she was most likely contemplating the same thing that he was. This girl, Kanta or Mukantagara or whatever her name was, she had magic within her and around her that was creeping into their play. This was fact; the question was whether or not her magic was something she was aware of. The realism of scenery and character, was that something she subconsciously wished for, or did she lead them into their trancelike states with hidden motives? And if this were the case, what on earth would possess her to magically interfere in a small-scale play? Nothing was clear; nothing made sense.

As Ishizu absently stroked her brother's platinum mane, similar thoughts passed whisperingly through her consciousness, gently furrowing her brow.

.oOo.

"Okay, okay, knock it off. We don't have time for this nonsense." Kanta jumped backwards, avoiding the gleaming blade that the thief had aimed at her left arm. "I shouldn't have let myself get caught up in that in the first place; we have stuff to do."

"Stuff?" Bakura asked vacantly as Ryou walked by, casually snatching the dagger from his grasp before continuing on his way.

"Duh. Stuff. Why do you think everyone's here in this theater?" Blank stare. "Practicing?" Continual blank stare. "For the play?" No comprehension whatsoever. "You're an idiot, and you're giving me a monster headache." She lightly smacked the side of the thief's head with her palm, moving briskly away as the entire cast scurried to make it look like they were doing something productive rather than standing around watching people fight. "Um…someone go practice something. I need to go track down an aspirin. Yugi's in charge 'til I get back."

"What?" squeaked Yugi, taken aback.

"_What?"_ demanded Kaiba with a cold and insulted glare.

"What?" Kanta asked innocently, "I'm sure he can handle it. He looks like a trustworthy little squirt, unlike _some_ of you. Be back soon, if that store down the street is open." She picked up her clipboard distractedly, fished a few papers out, and handed what remained to the amethyst-eyed boy standing before her. "Take damn good care of that. Let Bakura nowhere near it. Understand?"

"I don't really think I'm the best person to…I mean, there's Anzu or…or Yami…I don't, I mean—"

"Awesome. You'll be fine." Her fingers rested for a single moment on his forehead, brushing against his bangs briefly before she pulled her hand away. Yugi gave her a curious look at the contact, but she dismissed it with one of her trademark smirks. "Later, kiddies." And with that, she had slipped past her spiky-haired opposition, out of the theater and down the street before he could get another word out. Which was fine, because Kaiba had plenty of words for the both of them.

"You don't think he's bitter or anything, do ya?" Joey inquired sarcastically, watching the CEO curse quietly at being overlooked in favor of someone with next to no leadership experience. "I mean, not to call him egotistic or anything, but what an egotistic jerk."

"I didn't even know you knew the word 'egotistic.' Anzu returned dryly, her own gaze directed toward Yugi as he stood with the clipboard in his hands, trying to muster some of the confident, no-nonsense tone that Kanta used daily to keep the cast in line. Her thoughts flashed momentarily to the memory of him earlier that day, blushing furiously at his lack of decent clothing. She smiled crookedly at the thought before mentally bashing herself. _No! Bad Anzu! Stop that right now. Do not think about how cute he looked standing there all embarrassed and half-naked and…No! Stop it! Stop it stop it stop it!_

"Uh…Anzu? Are you okay? You look a little…spazzy." Joey poked the girl's shoulder, completely unaware of the little argument she was having with her hormones. She snapped out of her thoughts immediately at his touch, a slight pink tinge to her cheeks.

"I'm fine! Perfectly fine! Heh heh…"

.oOo.

Yugi was at a complete loss. How was he supposed to gain control of this madhouse? Kaiba had retreated into his own mind, a defensive strategy that he had perfected during his lifetime; Joey appeared to be trying his best to bother Anzu about something; Ryou was deeply involved in fighting off Bakura as the latter attempted to take back his dagger. The only two people who weren't currently yelling, complaining, fighting, or doing some combination of the three were Marik and Ishizu, only one of whom was actually in the scene Kanta wanted them to be rehearsing. "Um…guys?"

"You'll have to be a little louder than that, aibou."

Yugi gave Yami an uncharacteristically dark look before clearing his throat and raising his voice a bit. "Guys?" A few people glanced in his general direction before going back to work, but it was a start. Gathering his confidence, he managed a shout that Kanta, in fact, would have been proud of.

"_Hey, people!"_ The company ceased their collective insanities and actually gave him their attention. Surprised, he let a few seconds pass in silence before remembering what he was supposed to be telling them. "Okay…Kanta wanted us to do the next scene, so I guess we need Marik, Duke, Yami, and…me? What is she, nuts? How am I supposed to… Anyway, if I called your name you need to get onstage, please. Oh, and Kaiba is supposed to "stop sulking like a kid who dropped his ice cream cone and get his sorry ass over to talk with the special effects people." Those are her words, I swear. And, um…that's it. Thank you."

"_Well, that went well." Yugi's tone was light and casual, as if he had just meandered into the same location as his brother without thinking about it. He leaned nonchalantly against the great statue that the future pharaoh was currently sitting upon, stitching absently at something as he awaited a response. The one that came was less than friendly. _

"_Just go away."_

_Undeterred, the younger brother continued, "Could have been worse."_

"_The weak link in the chain…that's what he called me."_

_By the way these words were spoken, Yugi knew immediately that Yami had been and was planning to persist in stewing over what their father had said in his anger. He attempted to lighten the mood a bit as he continued to stitch, jokingly intoning, "Well, you are rather pathetic." His brother ignored him, continuing his little tirade._

"_Irresponsible, ignorant of the traditions…he practically accused me of bringing down the dynasty!" Yami threw up his hands, angry with his father, angry with himself, angry at the world in general. Still, the thought of a single person—much less his own brother—bringing down Egypt in all its glory was an amusing thought to the younger prince. _

"_Yeah, I can see it now. There go the pyramids!"_

"_You can laugh about it!" Yami jumped down from his perch stormily, accusingly. His brother took no notice, continuing mockingly, "Statues cracking and toppling over, the Nile drying up…single-handedly, you will manage to bring the greatest kingdom on earth to ruins." With these words, he dunked the finished water bag he had been stitching into a bowl of wine, twisting the top shut once it was filled. Yugi held this carefully and precisely over the ledge of the balcony-type structure they stood upon, a look of intense concentration on his deceptively innocent face. _

_Yami, too distracted to notice, posed a question to his brother. "Tell me this, Yugi, tell me this: Why is it that whenever you start something, I'm the one who ends up in trouble?"_

_Sploosh!_

_Protests filled the air within seconds. Yugi, having released his homemade water bomb, ducked out of sight as his brother leaned over the edge to see what had happened. That was his mistake. The priests Marik and Duke had been casually strolling along below them, perfect targets in grand white robes that Yugi had turned dripping and pink. Unfortunately, Yugi was not the face that they noticed looking down on them._

"_Yami! You're in trouble young man!" _

"_Get down here, I think you owe us an apology!"_

"_I am so upset!" _

"_Oh, my new thing!"_

_The prince reeled back in horror at the blame placed upon him. He turned sharply, most likely to give his brother a piece of his mind, but was cut off by the offhandedly guiltless look on the second-born's face. Holding the large bowl of wine toward the elder, Yugi gave him a sidelong grin. "Might as well…"_

_With a sigh, Yami shook his head almost imperceptibly and gave in, taking the bowl and turning it upside-down over the edge, ignoring the fresh protests beneath. ("Oh, look, drenched again!") The princes chuckled a bit as they walked away, Yugi suddenly gaining a look of mock realization as he pondered aloud, "I've figured it out. You know what your problem is, Yami? You care too much."_

"_And your problem is, you don't care at all," Yami returned laughingly, ruffling his little brother's hair a bit to further his point. Yugi ran his fingers indifferently through his locks, an offhanded quality to his voice. _

"_Oh, then I suppose you care a lot more than me that we're…late for the banquet, for example?" He felt his brother freeze in realization, a sickened look spreading over his face in prime contrast to the younger boy's total unconcern. They were definitely in trouble._

"Three-fifty is your change, thank you and have a nice day!" The girl at the counter handed Kanta her change and receipt, smiling cheerfully before turning her attention to the next customer. The brown-eyed girl rather grimaced in return, muttering to herself as she shot out the door. "Have a nice day, she says. Yeah, I'm having a great day." She popped two aspirin into her mouth, rolling her eyes before continuing the mumbled rant. "Tell you what, why don't you try running this blasted play and see how long you last before you go on a shooting spree, _then_ you can tell me to have a bloody nice day. I'll show you a nice day. Knock you into next week; it'll sure as hell be nice there, huh? _Jesus bloody Christ, Bakura, what are you doing here? You almost gave me a heart attack!_"

"How did you do that?" His manner appeared to be calm and blasé, but he was nonetheless trying to be discreetly menacing. However, he had overlooked one factor: Kanta didn't exactly do 'menaced.'

"What the fuck are you talking about?" she snapped. Out of a habit developed before she had acquired glasses, she squinted at the figure in front of her, already irritated and getting worse by the second. She hadn't intended to leave little Yugi alone for quite this long his first time out, and it bothered her that everyone was getting in her way.

"You weren't there, Dictator, but the magic happened anyway. How did you do that?"

"Magic? Excuse me, crazy-boy, but I think someone's off his meds. And they accused _me_ of being nuts…" Though her sarcastic, biting tone was still in place, the girl's eyes flickered for half a second. It wasn't much, but it was enough to be suspicious. From the look on Bakura's face, he had noticed the slight loss of control. _Dammit…_ "Look, stupid, I don't have time to deal with your insane accusations right now. I have to get back to practice. 'Scuse me." She pushed past him and strode off down the sidewalk in anger.

"I'm not the only one who's noticed, you know. And from experience I can tell you that the high and mighty pharaoh does not respond well to anyone who uses magic against his lighter half."

She turned to face him once more. His eyes were dark and malicious; hers were flaming and furious. _Against? Like I'd ever…that son of a… _The silent standoff lasted for a minute or so, though it seemed both longer and shorter to the two participants. Finally, Kanta coolly broke the silence. "I'm seriously concerned over your mental health. More than before, even. Now, if you don't mind, I'd really like to get back to my play. Coming?"

"As you wish…Dictator."

"And stop calling me that!"

---

Author Note: Okay, so not one of my best chapters… But still, I'm working on it. Read and review, please!


	5. Consequences of an Absence

"I don't know…she didn't say to practice another scene while she was gone…just the one we already did."

Yugi glanced doubtfully at the clipboard, scratching at the back of his head in thought. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of leadership to begin with; going against Kanta's original plans seemed like a pointless sort of risk. However…the cast members were getting antsy without the authoritative director in their presence. And working on a scene always had a particularly calming effect…

"Not always, partner. Only the scenes in sequence."

The boy turned his gaze away from the sharply scrawled instructions in his hands to rest upon Yami, who had somehow come to occupy the seat on his right without his noticing. They watched each other for a few moments, turning the statement over in their minds, finding truth in the words. "I guess you're right…I hadn't noticed it before. Still, I don't know if we should—"

"Hey, Yugi-poo! Hate to interrupt, but Kaiba's killing Joey!" Rebecca, all smiles and sparkling eyes, gifted the blushing boy with a hug before dashing off to witness the action. It was the final straw. Yugi sighed in defeat, raising his voice to a half-hearted shout. "Everyone! We're going to do the next scene! Yami, Marik, Duke, Anzu, Ishizu, and Kaiba! Stage, please!" He paused, then finished, "And please let go of Joey's face!"

---

_"I'm done for. Father will kill me." Yami's eyes held the distinctly panicked look of a cornered animal, his voice the despair of a man awaiting execution. Sandaled feet planted firmly in the stone of the stairway; the only things ensuring his continued motion were the hands of his younger brother as they pushed at his back. "Don't worry," Yugi assured him, waving the hands of a servant away from his unusual locks, "Nobody will even notice us coming in." With a swift shove, both emerged from behind a curtain, only to be greeted by the enthused cheers of hundreds of banquet guests. Yami growled, a low sound deep in his throat. "Nobody will even notice…"_

_Yugi chuckled nervously, inching slightly away from his brother, only to be saved by their mother as she wrapped them in an embrace. "Ah, the young princes," she declared, her voice changing from light and regal to a whispered hiss in a single instant. "Yami, you have just been named prince regent! You are now responsible for the overseeing of the temples." The firstborn's face broke into an unbridled smile at Ishizu's words, pure excitement in his features. His mother's voice became musical once more, amused as she gave him a light push in the pharaoh's direction. " I suggest you get over there and thank your father…" As Yami hurried off toward Kaiba, Ishizu directed a casual comment to her other son, smiling. "Apparently, Yugi, someone thought he…'just needed the opportunity.'"_

_Yugi grinned at his mother, moving toward the place where his father and brother stood together in conversation. He adopted the louder, more commanding tone of voice to be used in addressing his family for the crowds to hear. "My lord Pharaoh! I propose that the high priests offer tribute to their new regent!" Though his words echoed faintly from the splendid walls of the hall, the priests themselves took no notice until Seto nodded slightly and consented, "An excellent idea. Marik! Duke!" The addressed duo glanced at each other, somewhat irritated at being pulled away from their food. They whispered for a moment, improvising._

_"The Midian girl."_

_"That's a good idea."_

_"Go get her." Duke slipped into the shadows as Marik took center stage, dazzling the crowd with smoke and magic tricks. "We present for your delectation and delight an exotic apparition stolen from faraway lands…" He had captive the attention of all in the room; each eye now rested on the great concealment he had conjured. A moment later, standing before them was a girl, her wrists bound together as Duke held her captive. "We offer your majesty this delicate desert flower…" Marik trailed off, smirking slightly as the princes looked her over._

_"Let us inspect this 'desert flower.'" Yami moved forward, lightly turning her face toward himself, only to be rewarded with the snapping of her jaws near the flesh of his hand. He jumped backwards a bit, amending her description as he did so. "More like a desert cobra!"_

_Yugi laughed, slightly mocking, "Not much of a snake charmer, are you?"_

_The elder prince had absolutely no desire to charm this fiery girl, be she flower or snake. To his brother's comment, he simply replied, "That's why I…give her to you!"_

_"Oh, that's generous, but—"_

_"I won't be given to anyone," the girl spat venomously, interrupting, "Especially an arrogant, pampered palace brat!" Yugi stood shocked, not entirely certain of what to say. He hadn't had much experience by way of women. Yami, seeing his chance to repay a bit of what he put up with every day of his life, decided to goad his brother on a little. "Are you gonna let her talk to you like that?" The younger shook himself, using an imposing voice rather than the teasing one his brother employed. "You will show the proper respect for a prince of Egypt."_

_"But I am showing you all the respect you deserve," she threw back angrily, eyes darting restlessly around the room, "None!" The girl yanked the rope from Duke's hands, thrashing it through the air like a whip as the guards reacted and moved toward her. Yugi motioned them to stay back, leaping on the rope like a cat and holding tight, the girl straining against his hold with her entire body. "Untie this rope, I demand you set me free!"_

_"Be still," Yugi instructed, somewhat annoyed, yet intrigued at the same time._

_"Let go!" she insisted, emphasizing each word spitefully. The prince let his eyes wander to a point behind her, where a small and decorative pool rested. A tiny, amused smile came upon his face as he gave in, nearly chuckling. "As you wish…"_

_With a sudden jerk, she tumbled, a shriek and a splash in her wake. The crowd erupted with laughter, including Yugi's own. He glanced at the people, catching sight of his mother's disappointed expression, a look that brought on a surge of guilt. He shouldn't have done that to Anzu…_

_Wait. Anzu? He didn't know that girl's name; she was merely a slave from some desert tribe. What was he giving her a name for?_

_'No, no, that isn't right.' A voice argued within him, quietly insistent in its meaning. 'I do know her. Her name is Anzu. She's my friend. I am no prince of Egypt; I am Yugi. I go to school with that girl. Don't I?'_

_It was becoming confused, muddled. He couldn't work out the muddied memories of two lives, separate but real, each in their own way. 'Anzu? No, a slave girl. No, that isn't right. Anzu. I know her. My friend. Anzu. Isn't she?'_

_"You there!" Yami shouted to the servant who helped the slave girl from the pool, breaking through the boy's conflicting thoughts, still laughing, "Have her dried off and sent to Prince Yugi's chambers!" He threw an arm around his brother and addressed Seto, sounding both joyful and regal at once. "If it pleases you, father, my first act as regent is to appoint Yugi as royal chief architect!" He slid a ring from one of his fingers, placing it upon the second-born's hand in a token of his words. Yugi forgot his guilt and confusion, looking at the ring with a surge of love for his older brother, caught up in the applause and the joyfulness of the occasion. And yet, the voice at the back of his mind was still nagging at him, insisting._

_Anzu._

---

"Cut!"

The voice sliced sharply into everyone's consciousness, a sound that struck fear into the hearts of all. The scene, though it had already ended, now came screeching to an abrupt halt as the owner of the voice strode down the aisle, eyes blazing and ready for battle. "Dammit all, cut! End scene! Cut, cut, cut!" she cried unnecessarily, for everyone was frozen in fear as if a giant pause button had been pressed. "Yugi! My office, now! Now, damn everything, now! Move it!" Her sneakers pounded against the smooth floorboards of the stage as she strode up to the boy and grasped his arm with an iron grip. Fingernails like claws burrowed into his skin, causing him to wince involuntarily as Kanta dragged him off the stage. They moved at a rapid pace, up the aisles and out the door of the auditorium area. Yugi's last glance back at the stage revealed five or six people struggling to restrain Yami as he fought to follow the two. Then the doors swung shut, and he found himself alone with a madwoman.

---

"Pharaoh, calm yourself, she can't do anything to him! He'll be fine!" Ishizu shouted above the commotion, extending a hand towards her brother and helping him from the floor. Marik swiped a hand across his bloodied nose, having been bashed by an unexpected elbow while fighting to restrain Yami. Rather than joining the struggle once more, he surveyed the scene before him. Kaiba, Joey, Mai, and Tristan each had hold of the harassed-looking pharaoh while the remainder of the cast formed a loose circle around them in case he were to break free. Anzu was attempting to talk him down from the hysterics he had fallen prey to; Ryou was trying to stop Bakura from laughing hysterically at the entire scenario. Marik shook his head almost imperceptibly and sighed, himself wondering if Yugi would make it out of the office in one piece.

---

"Sit."

Yugi sat.

"Don't talk."

Yugi didn't talk.

"Just listen."

Yugi listened.

"Now," began Kanta in a cold voice, "There was a reason I only told you to practice one scene. Not being here, I left you far more susceptible to breaking through your other consciousness. Which you did. Which was not something I wanted to happen. Now, I take some fault. I was gone longer than expected. And yet… We can't let you break through."

The spiky-haired boy blinked his large lavender eyes. "Um…break through?"

She locked her own eyes with his; dark and currently rather cruel, they held him captive, paralyzed in his chair. "Your individual consciousness broke through your character's perception. You should not yet recognize Anzu for who she is. It is not until you arrive in Midian that you get to know the girl."

The boy finally freed himself from her gaze, fixing his eyes to the random clutter of her desk. "Of course I know Anzu," he murmured, "I'm not Moses. I'm Yugi."

"And therein lies the problem," she snapped, bringing a hand down upon the desk with a crash, "When you are able to differentiate between yourself and your character while immersed in said character, my purpose is compromised. My mere presence here is compromised. I won't allow everything to be compromised, Yugi. I won't."

"I…I don't understand what you mean…"

"Yugi, don't pull that. Surely you realize… Then again, it is rather soon. Perhaps you haven't yet figured it out. Perhaps…" She was no longer talking to him, but rather, to herself. For several long minutes, Kanta merely stood behind her desk, facing him, lost in thought. She could make him forget, but he held potential. And otherwise, she liked him. Something about his innocent nature struck her as pleasant. But still, he could not interfere with the purpose. He could not become an obstacle rather than an ally. She had perhaps brought him into this too soon. There was one reasonable option…yes, there was…

"Yugi."

"Yes?"

"Hold out your left arm. Yes, like that. And I'd like to apologize in advance for this…" She grasped his wrist and tried not to watch as he writhed in pain. She really was fond of him, after all.

---

"No, Yugi!" Yami cried out, renewing and redoubling his efforts to break free. His hikari was hurting, that much was clear, and he could not simply stand there and allow it to happen. Whatever that girl was doing, it could not continue. He had to do something, and he had to do something quickly, because whatever was happening to Yugi was draining his energy, as well. Though it had all come on so swiftly, he wasn't sure he would be able to get there in time. He wasn't sure he could even keep his eyes open…

---

"Ooookay. People, your attention for a moment, please?"

Several dozen heads snapped upward in a collective motion from varied locations throughout the room. It had been over an hour since Kanta and Yugi had disappeared into the office, and now here they were, standing in the doorway as if nothing had happened. She smacked the boy lightly on the back of the head; he took this as leave to go and wandered off towards Yami (who had returned to consciousness a mere five minutes ago) while she remained where she stood. "Yes, well…due to unusual circumstances of sorts, practice is over for the day. Sooo…go home. Or you don't have to go home, you could go somewhere else. Mall…movies…a bar…well, I don't know if you're old enough, but some of you, I imagine…but I'm getting off the subject. Wherever you go, you can't stay here. Out with ye." She shook her head, brown hair swinging slightly. "More practice tomorrow."

"But we don't have practice tomorrow," Mokuba interjected, almost whining.

"Then…more practice whenever it's scheduled," she said distractedly, waving them toward the doors. Bakura looked disappointed.

"The dictator's lost her spirit. No threats, no glares, no warnings not to burn down the city…"

"Bakura, for the love of god, I'll threaten your life tomorrow!"

"We don't have practice tomorrow."

"Get the hell out of my theater!"

-tbc-

---

Author note: Well…there it is. Chapter five. I know I left a few loose ends in here, but they'll all be explained at some eventual point. The next chapter is the one where I finally figured out where the plot was going. (I post these on a delayed basis…right now I'm actually working on chapter eight.) Sooo…that's about it. Read and review, please!


	6. A Day Off

Chapter 6: A Day Off

"Excuse me, miss? …Miss? Are you alive?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever. What's good to drink around here?"

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?"

"Buddy, don't start with me. I can personally guarantee that I'm older than your grandmother's most distantly traced ancestors. Just give me a drink. I don't care what, but none of those girly things. I've had a crap-ass day." With a flip of her somewhat forged id card, Kanta let her head reconnect with the glossy surface of the bar, sending a richly resounding _thunk_ about the crowded room. The bartender shook his head slightly, turning around to mix something or another in a deliberately artsy girly glass.

_Stupid fucking play. Why me? I swear they only assigned me this job because it's so screwed up. It's like I have the departmental' kick me' sign perpetually stuck to my back. Even the interns get better assignments than me. That settles it. When this shit is over I'm filing a complaint._

"Here you are, miss. This stuff has a history of taking out the pros. Strong, you know." He slid the glass toward her still-lowered head, somewhat impressed as she opened a hand and caught it without looking up.

"Cheers, mate," she mumbled, tossing her head back and gulping. "Though if I didn't know better I'd say you put it in this uber-feminine glass on purpose." The bartender smirked, turning away to help another customer and leaving Kanta to her own devices. Which, by chance, happened to consist of chewing him out between swallows. "Bastard. Oh well. Least he makes a good drink."

"Mukantagara-san, darling, don't tell me you're getting drunk already. You haven't even started rehearsing seriously yet."

"Oh bloody fuck, no!" she cried, spitting a good deal of her drink all over the man sitting to her right. (He glared drunkenly at her before tipping his cap to the coat rack and ambling away.) The bar resounded with another loud _thump_ of head-on-wood as a slender girl with straight white-blond hair slid gracefully onto the vacated stool next to the bespectacled director. "Why in the name of the gods are you here?"

"You say that like it's a death sentence to see an old friend again."

"Friend my ass. Don't tell me the department sent you."

The girl smiled, perfect white teeth flashing from behind soft cherry lips. She tossed her head, causing her hair to ripple like the purest of melted gold, daintily sipping something frosty and pink from a glass that suggested she didn't mind girly drinks in the least. "Then I won't tell you, darling."

Kanta held up her hands in surrender, finally lifting her head from its resting place. "That's it. I'm resigning."

"Now really, dear. We're both well aware that this is the not the first time you've threatened similarly. We're also well aware that you love your job enough to wear the figurative departmental 'kick me' sign every day without causing too much trouble. So let's not fool ourselves."

"You know, Takara, it's your incredible tact that makes me like you so much. And stop stealing my metaphors."

The girl tapped willowy fingers against the countertop, midnight-blue eyes sparkling deviously. "Finish your drink, sweetheart. We've got much to discuss."

---

-the next day-

"I've gotta admit, it's nice to have a day off rehearsing. I'm so tired." Anzu stretched her arms into the sunny warmth of the air, casually draping one over Yugi's shoulder with a friendly smile. Yugi felt his face heating up as she did so, unaware that she was still trying to stop thinking about the previous day's indecent exposure. Ryou noticed the slight pinkish tinge across both of their features and grinned to himself before returning his gaze to the pages of his book. Unbeknownst to the two, there were actually running bets going on how long it would take them to hook up.

"Ow! No fair, you did that on purpose!"

Yugi glanced up, startled, to see Joey holding both hands over his face while glaring at a sizeable tree, Duke laughing hysterically, an abandoned frisbee on the ground.

"Sure, man," Tristan replied, rolling his eyes, "I made you run straight into the tree."

"You did!"

Serenity smiled and pulled a band-aid out of a hidden pocket, sticking it to the end of her brother's nose. "I'm sure it was only an accident," she said sweetly, eyes sparkling. She had that ability possessed by some younger siblings to melt her older brother's heart and was currently using it to her full advantage. And luckily for the peace of everyone frequenting the park on that particular day, it was working. However, there was one other argument that nobody actually wanted to try to defuse.

"Idiot Pharaoh!"

"Tomb robber, for the last time, I didn't cheat!"

"I challenge you to a shadow game!"

Anzu sighed. "Then again…at least practice gives them a place to get their energy out."

---

"Chief, I'm begging you, please! I can handle it myself! I can always handle it myself! ….. Anyone else in the department, then! Dammit, you know I hate her!" Kanta paced the length of her apartment, cordless phone pressed to her ear as she gazed out into the early morning sunshine. She only had as long as it took Takara to shower in which to argue her case, and she'd already used up a good fifteen minutes. And even the vanity queen wouldn't take the entire day.

"Pleeeease, please consider reassignment. This is my project!" She paused, listening, then interrupted again. "I've been working this job for the last thousand years! Of course I know what I'm doing!" Another pause. "So what if I have a hangover? That's partly your fault for sending her here!" She turned from the window, rubbing a temple with two fingers, eyes closed. "Fine. But just so you know, you're a bastard." She clicked off, tossing the phone haphazardly at the sofa and resting her head wearily in a hand.

"That's a good way to lose your job, you know."

Kanta glanced up, eyes peering between fingers. The unwanted houseguest stood in the kitchen like she owned the place, a bottle of water in her perfectly manicured hands. It made her want to kill things.

"I'm going for a walk."

---

Takara watched with sapphire eyes as the door slammed, rattling the very foundation of the apartment. She waited about five minutes before deciding that her colleague had to be far enough away to make snooping safe. Her hair rippled gently as she strode toward the room that functioned as Kanta's office, stepping lightly through the threshold. "Let's see what you've done with this thing so far, shall we, darling?" she murmured to herself, reaching toward the clipboard that sat innocently on a wooden desk lit in the dim glow of a laptop. The clipboard seemed to have other ideas, however, for as the girl's fingertips brushed its surface, the thing vanished as though it had never been, earning a sigh from the room's occupant.

"Mukantagara-san, sweetie, we have got to work on your trust issues. I suppose I shall just have to content myself to read the script, then, won't I?" She scooped up a mess of papers, leaving the room as softly as a shadow for favor of the brightness of the living room. She knew she had an entire day to do whatever she wanted. Kanta would not return until she absolutely had to.

Those were the perks of being hated.

---

"Bakura, how many times have I told you not to start shadow games in the middle of the park?" Ryou lectured as he dug through his pockets distractedly, fishing for the key to his apartment. He was perfectly aware of the fact that Bakura was not listening to him in the slightest, but it was at least his responsibility to try to keep him under control. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you would have caused if someone had noticed?"

"Someone broke into our house."

Ryou turned to look at him, slightly exasperated at the total lack of attention paid to his own words. "What are you talking about? The door's locked."

"Still, someone broke into our house."

"How could you possibly know that just by standing here?"

"Are you going to stand there bickering all day or are you going to come in?"

Two snowy white heads whipped in the direction of the still-closed door from behind which the voice had floated, then back toward each other. Having finally located the key, Ryou slid it into the lock and turned his hand, easing the door open with a somewhat suspicious air. "Hello?"

"Hey, albino ones. You hungry? I ordered take out."

A few moments passed in which Ryou and Bakura simply stared at the girl in front of them. She had perched herself on a corner of the couch, munching something out of a box with one hand and scribbling at a piece of paper with the other. The silence quickly became a rather awkward one, and she looked up from her notes. "What?"

"I don't know if you've noticed this, Dictator, but you're in our house."

"I've told you to stop calling me that."

Ryou shut the door with a kick and stepped quickly between the two, cutting off the line of sight from one to the other in hopes of ending a prospective argument that might or might not destroy his apartment. "Kanta…why are you here?" he inquired, politely but curiously, one hand locked around Bakura's wrist to keep him from the weapons cupboard.

"Oh, that," she sighed, brushing a few stray hairs from her face. "There's a lunatic in my house."

"What a coincidence; I know the feeling," Bakura muttered darkly, shaking out of Ryou's grasp and crossing his arms.

"Touché. Seriously, though, I had to get out of there. She's driving me crazy."

Ryou raised an eyebrow at the girl, skeptical that anyone could be quite so unwise as to share a dwelling with Kanta, unstable as she was, knowing that she didn't like her. Then again, she herself had uninvitedly crashed Bakura's residence, which was almost the same thing. Which reminded him… "So, why did you come_ here_, exactly?"

"Because I'm madly in love with your roommate."

_"What!"_

Kanta smirked. "Calm down, Kura, I was joking. Actually, it was because I figured you would be the least likely to call the police on me." She turned to Ryou, whispering loudly in a parody of confidentiality. "I gather from that one's personality that he wouldn't want the cops knowing any more about him than necessary. Plus, you know, honor among thieves and the people who break into their houses." She resumed her scribbling with a chuckle, ignoring the sharp glances exchanged by the other two occupants of the room.

Bakura shifted his gaze back to the girl after a moment. "And exactly how long do you plan to grace us with your presence?"

"That was worded very eloquently, laced as it was with sarcasm. You would do well to capture such a fluency in your lines; few and repetitive may they be, you've thus far had difficulty in delivering them."

Ryou tried and failed to suppress a giggle at Bakura's expense, quickly ducking into the kitchen to avoid being hit over the head for it. The latter glared in the direction of his white haired companion before once again directing his words toward Kanta. "That didn't answer the question."

"I'm not spending the night, if that's what you're asking." She grinned, not looking up from whatever she was writing. "Your virtue shall remain unscathed."

"You assume it was so to begin with?"

"Ooh, been doing the nasty with Ryou."

"What?" yelped the boy from the kitchen, dropping something to the floor with a cascade of shattered pieces. He poked his head into the room, eyes wide. "We would never—"

Kanta laughed outright, eyeing the thin pink blush that had appeared on the almost identical faces. "Joking. Even if you were, I wouldn't know."

"We're not!"

"Okay, you're not."

"Really, we're not!"

"Okay. I get it. You're not."

The would-be squabble was suddenly cut short by the chirp of Kanta's cell phone. With a quick silencing motion in the direction of her not-so-willing hosts, she set down her black ballpoint pen and groped the depths of her pocket for the small black phone. "Aha," she murmured, pulling the thing out and flicking it open to check the number. It registered a second later as familiar in that it was a call from her own house...which could only mean one thing. "That bitch! How did she get this number?"

Eyes flaming, the girl turned her gaze upon the rooms two other occupants with a hiss. "If either of you say a single word to reveal my location I will, I will make your lives a living hell. Do not underestimate me, Bakura, I can follow through on that threat!" She jammed a finger against the talk button, practically spitting a greeting through clenched teeth.

"Hello? …What the hell do you want, Taka? …..That's none of your business! …Bullshit, you're going to find a hotel and get your ass out of my house! …Because it's my goddamned house, that's why! …..Let's not play nice, stop with the honorifics and pet names and listen: I don't like you. In fact, I hate you with every fiber of my being. So if you want to live… Oh, okay, that's mature. …Because it's my house. …Well fuck you! …It's none of your business when I come home or where I am or where I may be in the future! …I know! …I said I know! …Well it's none of his business either! Tattletale third-grader. …Well you're sure as hell not acting like it! …..I never said I was either, but… Whatever. Don't wait up. …Whenever I feel like it. …Well good night to you too!"

With a snap, she shut the phone and sent it flying across the room. Ryou ducked out of its path, avoiding by mere seconds the connection of skull and cell phone. "Um…your friend?"

"Friend nothing. She's an evil hell beast."

He blinked. "Okay… Your evil hell beast friend?"

"Yeah, whatever."

The boy gave her a slightly concerned glance. "You don't look too good."

Kanta smiled tiredly in response to his slightly fretful tone. "You live with a lunatic yourself. It's just one of those crappy side effects." She sighed, gathering a loose pile of papers from where they lay scattered like exaggerated flower petals on the floor. "You'll get to meet her at practice tomorrow. Lucky you."

Having picked up on the manner in which the brown-eyed girl was gathering her things, Bakura hopefully placed a hand on the doorknob. "Leaving so soon?"

"I've been here all day. So yeah. Thought I'd check the local bar scene."

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" he asked with a smirk as he opened the door, nodding at it pointedly.

"Dammit, don't start with me! The last two days have been seven kinds of hell." She stuffed her papers indifferently into a small backpack and crossed the room to retrieve her cell phone from where it had bounced to the floor. "I think the thing's still working," she mused, dropping it into the bag as well. "Well, I thank you for your kind hospitality. I'll see you at practice tomorrow. Nine-fifteen sharp." A silence passed, nearing discomfiture as the seconds stretched on, three sets of eyes staring at one another. And then it was over, broken by a single word in a chorus of instantaneous voices.

"Night."

With an almost wave, a mere twinkling of fingers, the girl eased out the doorway and melted effortlessly into the lavender shadows of twilight, heading anywhere but home.

Maybe tomorrow would be better.

-tbc-

---

Author Note: Wah, only one review last chapter. I am saddened by this; _When You Believe_ is my favorite story to write. I know it's still going a little bit slowly at the moment, but it starts to get further into everything soon. I just finished writing chapter eight, actually (I'm on a delayed posting of chapters on this site), and I thought it was probably the best chapter of the story thus far. (Of course, that could be author bias. This story is my darling.) Anyway, please read and review! Review even if you don't like it, and tell me what you don't like, or what you do like. Please? I'll give you a cookie. I'm not above petty bribery. Haha.

Also, if anyone is also reading _Are We There Yet_, that one is on a temporary hiatus. I'll be getting back to it at some point, though.

Review please!


	7. Revelations

Chapter 3 – Revelations

---

_I can't sleep._

_I don't know why I'm here again. Well, it could be because they finally kicked me out of the bar. And also because I'm too cheap to get a hotel room. But I have an excuse. This is my house, dammit. Not hers. She can't stay here. I'm kicking her out come morning. _

_Oh, hells. Morning. Play practice with little miss tagalong. Damn and double damn. I wonder if I could keep working on this play if they fired me. Because I secretly do enjoy it. You can always tell when I like something by the way I complain about it. It crosses my mind that I may be insane. I wonder how long it'll be until someone finally locks me up. Not long, I bet. Not long._

_I need sleep._

---

"Good morning, everyone."

There was a resigned tone to Kanta's voice as she entered the theater, walking a bit slower and perhaps missing a step here and there. Of course, not everyone discerned this in light of noticing the person who followed her down the aisleway.

"Whoa, baby," Joey catcalled, "She's hot! Ouch!"

"Oops," Mai murmured with a quiet laugh, "Didn't mean to hit you with that shoe." Serenity grinned faintly at the antics of her brother and his would-be girlfriend. Would be, that is, if either of them ever decided to admit their feelings for each other.

"Quiet please," Kanta's voice interrupted the squabble, a bit duller than it usually was. "Nice to see everyone here on time; now I can get this over with. This is Takara; she's going to be helping us out with the play for a while."

"For the rest of the production, actually," the girl chirped, earning a heated glare in response. A few seconds passed in quiet, during which the director was silently counting to ten in an attempt to remain reasonably pleasant. Needless to say, she was failing miserably.

"Please, feel free to throw things at her whenever it strikes your fancy. That's it; let's get to work." She stormed off distractedly, heading over to a group of girls reading through their lines.

Takara watched her for a moment before turning to beam at whoever noticed her. "Hi!" she sounded cheerfully, perfect white teeth dazzling in the soft morning light. Her hair, the pale golden color of pure sand, rippled slightly with the tilt of her head, enough to send most of the males in the room into a trancelike state.

Most, but not all.

"Ouch!"

Kanta smiled darkly, watching out of the corner of her eye as Takara rubbed her head with those perfect willowy fingers. Bakura had fairly good aim, after all.

---

_Crrreeeeeeak._

_The large wooden doors groaned open, a sigh in their wake from the young prince as he leaned against one for support. Before him lay his torchlit room, bed at the far end, concealed from view by a canopy of delicate white. Behind this fluttering curtain sat the upright, proud silhouette of the Midian girl, most likely even now severely pissed at him. He sighed once more, resigned to the apology, and then muttered, "Well…right."_

_With a sweeping motion, Yugi pulled back the draping material only to reveal one of his servants, effectively bound and gagged upon the bed, as were his two pet dogs in the corner. From each came the muffled sounds of one attempting (and failing) to communicate successfully. The prince's eyes darted about the room, searching for the girl, and fixed upon a fluttering white linen trailing out the window. _

_Upon closer inspection, Yugi realized that the girl had tied together a number of these sheets of fabric, creating what amounted to a rope leading from his window to the courtyard below. He leaned over the ledge, then with a shrug, scaled down the wall._

_In the dim golden glow the prince's eyes sought out the girl once more; she led her camel through the shadows noiselessly toward freedom. However, Yugi's vantage point allowed him to see what she could not: she was dangerously close to intercepting the guards as they idled through the twilit walkways._

_"Guards!" _

_The Midian girl froze, muscles tensed as she made brief eye contact with the prince, who stood with palace guards alert before him. "Prince Moses," they intoned simultaneously, half-kneeling before his figure. An awkward silence followed their words, during which the boy fumbled for something to say; confusion lined the faces of each servant as they waited in the dusk. _

_"Um…uh…there's a…man…tied up…in my room!" Silenced reigned still, as the guards looked up at their prince in uncertainty. "Well, look into it!" Yugi commanded, finally regaining the authoritative edge to his royal voice. _

_"Right away, sir!" both responded swiftly, running off in the opposite direction as Yugi chuckled in amusement. He turned to look at the girl only to find that she had run off while he was otherwise occupied. And she was fast; he had to give her credit for that. _

_Not entirely sure of why he was going to so much trouble over one girl, Yugi took off down the road at a run, quickly moving beyond the palace grounds and into a small section of the city that the slaves called home. Still moving at his swift pace, he came to a bend and slowed to a trot, then finally came to a halt as he peered around the outer wall of a house. Before him, framed in the bluish cast of moonlight, the Midian girl sat upon her camel, speaking quietly with two slaves._

_"Please, I need water. I have a long journey ahead of me."_

_A young woman with wavy hair nodded and granted her the water from a small well just outside of what one could assume was her home. As she finished, the camel rose to its feet, the slave woman nodding once more to the Midian girl. "May God protect you."_

_"Thank you. Hut hut!" _

_And just like that, she was gone, becoming smaller and smaller with distance until Yugi could no longer see her. Unconsciously, he stepped further from his hiding place behind the wall, still entranced in a way that he could barely comprehend. However, a sudden shattering of pottery at his feet brought him from his stupor. _

_"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," the slave girl apologized with a sort of nervously relieved laugh in her voice, gathering the shards of the jar into her arms and promptly dropping them once more, eliciting a small chuckle from the prince. "I, oh, please forgive me. I didn't expect to see you…here, of all places, at our door, mm…at last."_

_"At last?" Yugi inquired with a hint of confused amusement, watching the girl as she near pranced over to the thus far silent man in their doorway. _

_With a broad grin on her face, she drew the man into a hug, still talking at an incredibly rapid pace. "Didn't I tell you, Ryou, didn't I tell you? I knew he would return to us when he was ready!"_

_"Serenity, do you want us flogged?" Conversely, his voice was a hurried murmur, issued from the corner of his mouth while his eyes darted nervously to the spiky-haired prince. The girl paid him no mind, turning her attention once again to her guest._

_"I knew you cared about our freedom."_

_Yugi now found himself undeniably bewildered. This slave was either crazy or part of an elaborate hoax. If Yami hadn't been so resistant to humor the young prince would have assumed this was his doing, some kind of payback in the form of a prank. "Freedom? Why would I care about that?"_

_For the first time, the smile on Serenity's face faltered as she looked at him once again. "Well…because…you're our brother."_

_"What?"_

_"They…" The girl broke off with a pained sigh, then took a shaky breath and continued her sentence. "They never told you?" Her look was pleading, as if begging him to contradict her. Forcing a laugh, the prince shook his head. _

_"Who never told me what?"_

_This seemed to throw her through a loop. She hesitated a moment, trying to piece things together, finally taking a step towards him and grasping his arms in her own worn hands. "But you're here! You must know!"_

_"Be careful, slave!" cried Yugi, freeing himself from her grip. Here, her brother rushed between the two, hands out in a gesture of both defense and diplomacy._

_"Please, my good prince," he started, obviously flustered, "She's exhausted from the day's work." He thought on that for a split second, then backtracked, "Not that it was too much; we quite enjoyed it. But she is confused," Ryou's tone changed suddenly, becoming pointed directly at his sister, "And knows not to whom she speaks."_

_She jerked away from her brother angrily, tearing her gaze from Yugi and settling it on the taller boy. Her stance became confrontational as she spat the words harshly into the night. "I know to whom I speak, Ryou!" The slave girl whirled, once again directing her speech towards the young prince. "I know who you are, and you are not a prince of Egypt!"_

_"Serenity!"_

_"What did you say?" Yugi demanded, no longer messing around. He was quickly becoming infuriated. Luckily for the young woman, her brother jumped in once again, nearly dragging her away as she struggled heatedly against him._

_"Your highness, pay her no heed. Come, Serenity."_

_"No!"_

_"Let's discuss—"_

_"No, Ryou! Please, Yugi, you must believe! You were born of our mother, Mai!"_

_"Stop it!"_

_"You are our brother!"_

_Yugi had had enough. "Now you go too far. You shall be punished!"_

_"No!" The slave called Ryou threw himself to the ground at the prince's feet, still trying vainly to keep his sister from harm. "No, please, she's ill! She's very ill! We beg your forgiveness. Let's go, Serenity." He got to his feet and tried once more to drag his sister away, pulling her from the royal and into the dim light of their tiny home. Still, however, she resisted violently._

_"No! Ryou!" As she struggled, she continued her attempt to get through to the youngest of the three, desperately shouting. "Our mother set you adrift in a basket to save your life!"_

_"Save my life? From who?"_

_"Ask the man that you call 'father!'" At these words, a frozen expression took hold of the prince's face, Ryou released his sister, and the girl's voice faded, her body calming. _

_"How dare you…" Yugi began forcefully, furious as he had never been before._

_"God saved you to be our deliverer," she overrode his voice, speaking at a conversational volume but with a striving intensity._

_"Enough of this!"_

_"And you are, Yugi. You are the deliverer."_

_"I said enough!" With these words Yugi seized the slave's arm and twisted it, flinging her to the ground and bringing forth a muffled moaning noise from her throat. She looked up at him, pained, as her brother slumped against the doorframe behind her. Eyes burning, Yugi glared down at her thin figure in the pale moonlight, lowering his voice to almost a whisper. "You will regret this night."_

_Without another word, the prince turned on his heel and hotly stalked off down the road, heading back toward the palace. However, before he had gone more than a few paces, he stopped cold, a voice drifting into his ears. Slowly, fearfully, he turned once more toward the slave girl. _

_"Hush now, my baby," she crooned brokenly, voice pushing through her silent tears, "Be still, love, don't cry. Sleep as you're rocked by the stream."_

_Yugi turned completely, now watching her fully, as she drew herself to her knees and moved her arms expressively, eyes downward. "Sleep and remember my last lullaby," she continued, raising her gaze to meet his, "So I'll be with you as you dream." _

_The tune faded into the night as she offered a tiny smile to meet the prince's horrified recognition. Unable to do much else, Yugi turned and ran once more, this time in a blind panic, fear obscuring his thoughts._

---

"Now then. Is this the boy?"

Takara stalked in a half-circle around Yugi, slightly reminiscent of a lioness on the prowl. Her distance from him was just enough so as to remain out of his general awareness; however, Kanta was not so fortunate.

"I took care of it," she muttered darkly, folding her arms across her loose t-shirt, wishing she were lucky enough to be on ten-minute break with the actors instead of arguing with the blond pain in her neck. "He shouldn't have any interference in his character for the rest of the production. It's been dealt with. As was obvious in the scene they just rehearsed." Yugi flipped through his script, chewing thoughtfully at the end of a light blue highlighter before marking something softly, utterly unaware that he was being talked about. Yami leaned over his shoulder to point at the middle of the page; the younger of the two laughed slightly and poked the other on the nose with the writing utensil, earning a wicked grin for his efforts.

The blond-haired girl nibbled at her fingernail as she surveyed the pair engaging in a highlighter fight, leaning toward her colleague in an exaggerated motion of confidentiality. "He's awfully juvenile for an ancient pharaoh. The kid I can understand, but—"

"Yugi is roughly the same age of the majority of the people in this room. He is not a child. Give him time; he'll grow."

"Both defensive and off the point. Just because your partner was short—"

"Leave my partner out of it."

"You know, your problem is that you have never been able to accept—"

"I said, _leave her the fuck out of this!_" Various cast and crewmembers glanced up from their work, staring at the bespectacled girl. While her fits of temper were incredibly common, few had ever witnessed her enter into a full-blown rage. Even those across the room could feel the burning hatred radiating off of her form as she stormed from her prim, impassive coworker, making her way backstage in an attempt to keep from committing mass homicide. There was a slightly muffled cry—odds were that one of the stage crew had refrained from jumping out of the director's path in time—followed by the echoing slam of the back door.

Takara sighed to herself. Apparently her coworker was just as much a ticking time bomb as she had been the last time they had actually worked together. How long ago was that? Fifty, a hundred years? It had only been their fourth case as partners (a production of _La Boheme_ in a slightly run-down old opera house); Kanta had blown up within the first few weeks of rehearsals and transferred herself from active field duty to deskwork, a position she had maintained for the next decade while Takara continued taking assignments. For some incomprehensible reason, however, administration had never reassigned either of them to new partners and they had each taken on their own cases over the years, working solo and only technically attached to one another. Now, after what had to be about eighty-three years, they were back together.

Heaving another sigh, the girl swept her long hair behind one shoulder and raised her voice to address the various cast and crew. "I have a personal matter to address. Your break has been indefinitely extended; if we're not back in a half hour you're free to leave. I'd advise you not to sneak out until it has been exactly thirty minutes at great risk to your own health. Anyway, we'll be back soon enough." With that, she took off across the stage, following her associate past the curtain and out the door.

Yugi turned to stare at Yami with wide eyes. "What was that all about?"

---

"Kanta-san? I know you're around here somewhere. Please don't tell me you're up a tree, Kanta-san, I've never been much of a climber."

"Stop calling me that. You and your bloody honorifics; we've had this discussion before, several decades ago, and I don't really care to have it again."

Takara froze in her tracks and looked up curiously. "In a tree. Of course you're in a tree, otherwise you just wouldn't be you, Mukantagara…_san._" She winced slightly as an acorn ricocheted off of her skull with a certain amount of force behind it, thumping loudly despite the cushion of blond hair it had to contend with. "I don't suppose you'd take a fancy to coming down from there anytime soon?"

They had situated themselves in a small, deserted patch of Domino City Park a short distance from the theater. Kanta was, indeed, perched in the higher branches of a particularly shady oak tree while her colleague squinted up at her past the deep green of the leaves.

"You do realize," Takara tried once more, earlier inquiry having met only with silence, "That we've left the cast all alone in the building?"

"Your fault. You could have stayed. Or, even better, not bothered me to begin with."

"Kanta, honestly…"

"Leave me alone, would you? I can't take the bloody holier-than-thou bullshit anymore! Now I remember why I dropped the last case we were working on together! You're a pain in the ass!" A few leaves floated serenely down from the treetops, disturbed by the violent explosion of their fellow tree-dweller. For the next few moments a particular silence reigned over the little corner of the park, a silence filled with things unsaid yet understood, things of the past and the present. Finally, as the last of the disturbed leaves gently lit upon the ground, a sigh pushed its quiet way into the air.

"It wasn't your fault, you know. And anyway, you Egyptians are supposed to believe in eternity." She turned, flipping her hair and straightening her skirt, once more adopting her polite and perfect mannerisms. "I'm going back to practice now, darling. If you don't want to come, that's perfectly understandable; I can handle everything on my own for today. Ciao, sweetie." With a twinkling of fingers, she turned on her heel and started her rather brisk return to the theater.

From the heights of the tree, Kanta scowled to herself. "I really, really hate that girl," she muttered heatedly, dropping from her branch with a practiced grace and landing in a crouch at the base of the tree. "Hate," she reiterated with a frown before rising and making her way back toward the little building at a jog, clipboard still clasped in one hand, a determined expression behind the pain in her eyes.

She'd be damned if she let her annoyance of a coworker take over _her_ practices.

---

"Tristan, Joey, please! Anzu, no, wait, they didn't mean to—Anzu!"

Yami chuckled, a deep, resonating sound. "I don't believe they are able to hear you at the moment, aibou."

_Crash!_

"Joey!" Yugi squeaked, watching the boy stumble dazedly away from the door he had just collided with, violet eyes wider than usual. Tristan, who had been running for his life a mere few inches behind his friend, veered sharply to the right in an attempt to avoid the same fate; instead, he found himself unceremoniously tangled in several red-cushioned folding seats. Anzu, wildly triumphant, came to a dead stop before them in order to savor their fearful expressions.

"Thanks, Rebecca!" she called sweetly, met with a casual, "Don't mention it!" from somewhere behind the large wooden doorway. Her eyes then returned to her prey, both of which were making hurried attempts to placate the girl.

"Uh, Anzu…we didn't mean…ah…"

"You see…it's like this…we…"

"Oh no you don't!" she crowed, a slightly maniacal look in her sparkling blue eyes, "What did I tell you the last time you pulled my skirt up?"

The boys frantically took in their surroundings, searching for an escape route, but found nothing at all in their favor. Furthermore, none of the cast appeared to be paying them any mind, with the exception of Yugi, who knew better than to get involved. "Listen, Anzu, we were just—"

"You're not getting out of this one so easily," the girl shot back heatedly, balling her hands into fists and looming over them both. They each gulped noisily, staring up at her wide-eyed as she moved closer.

"Hey, Anzu, can you come help me with this costume?"

The girl glanced up, turning her head towards the wings of the stage. "Sure, Miho, one second!" she replied cheerfully, waving.

"Looks like we—" Joey started, only to be cut off instantly.

"I swear, you two, one more time…" She gritted her teeth in annoyance, fixing them each with a stare. "Don't do it again!"

As Anzu made her way backstage, the two boys stared at each other with widened eyes before dropping into faints, Yugi watching bemusedly. "Chaos," grouched Kaiba, never taking his gaze off of the laptop before him, wordlessly expressing his opinion on good leadership and the obvious lack thereof.

Meanwhile, across the room, a conversation of very few syllables was steadily taking place between two oddly light-haired Egyptians.

"Bakura."

"Marik."

"I trust you're well?"

A nod. "And you?"

"Fine."

Silence.

"So," Bakura cleared his throat, fiddling with a small silver knife as he spoke, "Find out anything about the girl?"

Marik looked up, an amused expression on his tanned face. "And you would care…why?"

A shrug. "Curiosity."

"Curiosity." Marik sounded dubious, skeptical. There was more to it than that.

Another shrug. "Her magic is somewhat of interest to me."

"Right. Her magic." His voice was now intensely skeptical, but he shook his head nonetheless and proceeded to spill the little he and Ishizu had managed to uncover on the girl, which oddly enough had its origins just a century or two shy of three thousand years in the past.

---

"Hey, Yugi."

"Ahhh!" The boy jumped approximately a foot into the air, bringing the top of his head just about level with the rest of the cast for an instant before gravity took over once more. He felt a hand upon his shoulder as his feet hit solid ground and glanced up to determine the identity of its owner. "Oh, Kanta. It's you."

"Yes," she nodded distractedly, "It's me."

"When did you get back? And where…you have a leaf in your hair."

"Never mind that," she murmured unconcernedly, "I meant to tell you. You did very well during the last scene we rehearsed, Yugi."

"Oh…" The boy seemed slightly taken aback, but nevertheless managed a polite, "Thank you," in response. Kanta nodded, still staring off into space somewhat, apparently unaware of the look of intense concentration on Yugi's face as he struggled to remember the previous scene. For the life of him, he could not bring back more than a vague recollection of events; everything was strangely blurred, as if he had been hypnotized the entire time.

"You know," her voice sounded quietly, breaking through his slightly befuddled musings, "You remind me very much of someone I used to work with, a very close friend of mine. I think you would have liked her."

Yugi's eyebrow quirked at this sudden change of topic. He was not entirely sure of how to respond, so after a moment, he gave a noncommittal sound from the back of his throat, nodding ever so slightly. A few moments further passed in silence, and, being discreetly uncomfortable, Yugi broached the subject once more. "Um…why don't you work with her anymore?"

It seemed that the boy had finally succeeded in obtaining her full attention, although now that he had done so, he wasn't so certain he wanted it anymore. The haunted, dark look that came into Kanta's eyes was almost unbearable to witness directly, and he turned away, focusing his own lavender eyes at a point on the dimly lit stage. However, he couldn't block out her reply by simply averting his gaze; soft as it was, the words still reached his ears.

"She died."

"Oh… I… I'm—"

"Don't worry about it, Yugi." She reached out and ruffled his unusual locks very lightly before shifting her hand to rest upon his shoulder, a small smile across her slightly distracted features. "What say you we rehearse the next scene then call it a day, hm?"

He smiled back, placing his own small hand over hers in a comforting manner. "That sounds good to me, Kanta. I'll go find Kaiba."

"Thanks, kid," she returned with something of a grin, slipping (for the most part) back into her usual persona. She watched him run off, eyes still somewhat less sharp than usual, watching everyone in turn. Her flickering gaze rested a second longer on Takara, then Bakura and Marik, finally settling upon Yami and Yugi as they fought to get Kaiba away from his laptop.

Stop thinking about her, Kanta. Just focus on your job. It's all about the job.

"Come on, people, let's go! One last scene, then we're out of here! Move it!"

They need you to focus.

-tbc-

a/n: Hello again, duckies. I know I keep taking forever and a day to update. My only excuse is being a senior in high school at the moment, with all the applications and scholarships and etcetera that goes with it. Apologies. I'd say I wouldn't take so long to update ever again, but that would be a lie, and I don't want to lie to you. You're nice people. But anyway. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Oh, and by the way, the italics bit at the beginning was intended to be something of a journal entry. Just so you know; fun facts and all that jazz. Anyway. Please review. Reviews make me happy. Laters.


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